What are Peer Coaching Circles and how do they work?
How (and why) did they get started?
What Circle participants say about Peer Coaching Circles
How can I get involved?
What are Peer Coaching Circles and how do they work?
Peer Coaching Circles are small, highly focused learning groups of between 4-6 members with comparable levels of responsibility from organizations of similar sizes. Members meet monthly for three hours to discuss current projects, share insights and materials, support and challenge each other, and develop action plans. Circle members come to meetings prepared to work on individual goals or problems related to their organizations, such as coping with staff, dealing with symptoms of burnout, or planning a new program. Each member commits to taking action between meeting to address their goal. Trained facilitators ensure highly focused meetings and tangible results for each member. Regular evaluation occurs about the process, outcomes and facilitation.
Peer Coaching Circles are based on state-of-the-art principles of adult learning that indicate people learn best when they actually apply new information and materials to real-world, current challenges. The same principals indicate people learn best when they share ongoing feedback about their experiences, and that the person with the problem is the expert on the problem. Peer Coaching Circles provide participants the opportunity to learn from their own and others' experiences and to immediately test and apply their learning in the workplace.
Who participates?
Circles are comprised of individuals with comparable levels of responsibility from organizations of similar sizes. Depending on our pool of applicants, IAA may consider:
- A group for executive directors with 5 years or less experience in the top job
- A group for executive directors with more than 5 years experience in the top job
- A group of development staff members only
- A group of mid-level arts professionals
- A group for board members only
- Or some other configuration that suits the community the Circle is based in
How often do they meet?
Circles meet monthly for about three hours. Meeting times will be determined based on the preferences of the participants.
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How (and why) did they get started? - a Peer Coaching Circle program history
In 2001, with support from The Chicago Community Trust, IAA commissioned the Cultural Policy Center at the University of Chicago to complete a literature scan for materials examining leadership succession in the nonprofit arts. Our initial plan was to gather models and best practices and make these existing resources available to our constituents in Illinois. To our surprise, the scan found that no such arts-specific material existed. Existing guidelines and tools designed for other nonprofit fields were often drawn from for-profit models. While these were helpful, they did not address the unique complexities of arts management, where leadership is often divided between artistic and managerial.
Having identified an absence of succession-related planning materials, IAA engaged two researchers to modify a job satisfaction survey conducted by CompassPoint, a San Francisco-based service organization, and administer it to executive directors and emerging leaders in Illinois. IAA's survey garnered an astonishing 65% response rate - an early indicator of the high interest level in this topic. Though survey results indicated a relatively high job satisfaction level, one respondent summed up her dedication to a job that often creates a great deal of stress thusly: "This is a job I love, but I wouldn't wish it on anyone else." The survey also warned of an upcoming generational transfer of leadership that the surveyed organizations were clearly not prepared for - 70 % of executives planned to leave their current posts in the next five years, and three out of four organizations surveyed had no succession plan in place.
Using these survey results as a springboard, IAA launched a series of discussions, focus groups and further research. The results of these efforts are a number of programs designed specifically to meet the stated needs of the community. Specifically, our constituents indicated the need for support systems for new, mid-career, and well-established leaders of arts organizations to overcome some of the challenges of stress and isolation that seem to be an inherent part of these positions. In response, IAA developed and implemented Peer Coaching Circles, a program based on a model developed by Authenticity Consulting and piloted with great success in the arts community by the New York Foundation for the Arts. During 2005, IAA piloted three Circles - two in Chicago and one in Rockford. Another six circles in Chicago, Evanston, and Carbondale followed in 2007.
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What participants say about Peer Coaching Circles
Arts professionals, like many of their colleagues in the nonprofit sector, chose their profession based on their passion for the work and a desire to make their communities stronger. But much like the fabled cobbler's children who have no shoes, the combined stresses of fundraising, managing finances, high stress and long hours regularly sap the pleasure from a job chosen specifically for its capacity to create and sustain joy. Peer Coaching Circles are geared toward making the life of arts leaders better by improving individual arts professionals' ability to do their jobs and empowering them to renew their passion for their work.
The clearest testament to the effectiveness of IAA's Peer Coaching Circles is this: six of the nine Circles established by IAA continue to meet even after the close of the formal program.
Evaluations indicate that Peer Coaching Circle members have experienced:
- increased productivity as a result of effective support from other Circle members,
- an improvement in overall motivation
- increased learning through networking and exposure to the diverse perspectives of their fellow Circle members
In addition, many members indicate that having time set aside specifically to deal with challenges - be they personal, professional or both - is enormously energizing.
Here are some Circle members' comments about their Peer Coaching experience:
- "Simply creating a structured way to consider problems/challenges is hugely beneficial. It gives a much needed perspective on bigger issues and underlying problems. Because it's difficult to get out of a routine, day-to-day way of thinking, it's very valuable to have these monthly set-asides where that's 'my job': giving thoughtful consideration to the 'big issues.'"
- "Just the sheer knowledge that I am not alone, that others have the same or similar challenges and struggles [is a benefit]. I have learned a lot from the group because even though we are all arts organizations, we have different approaches to problems and past experiences."
- "Just to be able to have two hours once a month to decompress out of the office is a great benefit to me - [it is] just as good as getting a massage."
- "This is a very beneficial program that can increase capacity and effectiveness of organizations."
- "Because of the partnerships formed [as a result of Circle membership], several arts organizations have grown and improved."
- "Being accountable to the Circle in achieving goals is very motivating."
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How can I get involved?
There are no Circles currently meeting. For updates on Peer Coaching Circles and other professional development opportunities, please sign up for updates on IAA programs here. To inquire about starting a Circle in your community, contact Program Director Lisa May Simpson at 312-855-3105 x15 or simpson@artsalliance.org.
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Illinois Arts Alliance/Foundation
203 North Wabash
Suite 1920
Chicago, Illinois 60601
Phone: 312.855.3105 Fax: 312.855.1565
info@artsalliance.org
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